Breaking the Mask
by FaytRain
Summary: What do you do if someone you thought you really knew, turned out to be a completely different person then you ever thought? Noriko doesn't know what to do either if everyone found out that the loving blond they all knew was actually her. Female Naruto.
1. Break the Mask

Disclaimer: Me no own no Naruto. Me need also English classes…

Summery:What do you do when your freinds find out you're a girl? Will you keep up the happy mask? Or will you break it? AUish.Female Naruto! R&R!

Hey! No worries! I didn't break off from my Love Hina fic, Keitaro: Another Day! I figured that I needed to get some new inspiration!... Wherever that is… so yeah… trying out Romance/Drama, so be as brutal as needed! Or you could be helpful with suggestions you know. Just so ya know… I won't be able to update this as fast as I must can. 'Cause, well… I'm only 13 and contrary to popular belief, I DO have a life… That and I'm also doing my other story at the same time... Oh Well...

* * *

"Talking" 

'Thinking'

**SOMETHING NEEDED BOLDING, **probably demon talk or something…

_Jutsus _ex: _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_

_Emphasis_

.:Some Kind of action, sneezing, coughing, sweat drop:.

—Scene/Time change—

Pairings: That's for me to know and you guys to go crazy thinking about it!

* * *

Chapter 1: Break the Mask 

Dear Diary,

Hey. My name? Uzumaki Naruto. Age 13. Most troublemaking boy in Konohagakure and loudest genin of Team 7. Well, that's what everybody thinks anyways… My _real_ name? Uzumaki Noriko, a _girl_. Why am I telling you all this? Of course _you _don't know, I just got you after all. Yeah, first entry ever. Hmm, because this is the first entry I should tell you what happened in my life. From what I hear, it all started like this…

—13 Years ago, Night of Kyuubi—

'Kyuubi…' The Yondaime thought as he marched into battle. Gama-Bunta his ride.

'Kyuubi, you are immortal aren't you? Knowing that I cannot kill you puts me at a disadvantage, eh Damn Fox?' Marching closer to his doom. 'I know I cannot, so I if I cannot defeat you, I'll make sure you never harm another soul again.' A single tear sliding down his face. 'My daughter, Uzumaki Noriko. I cannot ask another family to bear this burden. It would need one strong and courageous, so I ask of you, my own flesh and blood. I just wanted you to have a normal life. I will not be there to see you grow up, when you come of age, nor when you ever may marry. I'm sorry…' As he started to perform the seals for the _Shiki Fuujin,_ the seal he worked years into, just to protect the village from any demons if ever needed. 'Even when I'm gone, be strong, if you ever learn of this, have the strength to get up every morning… To live your life to the fullest… To make me proud to be your father… And remember, I'll always love you.' As he finished the final seal. _"SHIKI FUUJIN no Justu!"_ As energy gather in his hands flew out into a vortex above him.

"**WHAT ARE YOU DOING HUMAN!"** The Kyuubi said as he yowled in pain. **"ARGH! YOU CANNOT KILL ME! I AM THE KYUUBI NO KITSUNE! I WILL HAVE REVENGE SOMEDAY!"** As the Kyuubi was sucked into the swirling blue vortex. Soon the Kyuubi was just a red swirling ball of energy. The mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune trapped.

Yondaime encircled the ball and inserted into his daughters body before he was taken away by the Death God. "Noriko…" He whispered as he took the final breaths within his body.

—2 hours later—

If you are reading this, I am dead. I could not kill the Kyuubi no Kitsune due to the fact that it is immortal. Instead I have sealed it within the body of my newborn daughter. Satarubi (Spelling for the thirds name?), please, give my daughter a normal life. I wish for her to be treated as a hero. The one who is giving everything she has to hold the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Some villagers will not accept her and try to harm her. That I understand, but it is dangerous for a girl to be hated like that. So as a final wish, after the ceremony of sealing, please give my daughter another seal. One that will hold her female form and give her the appearance of a boy. At least until she comes of the age of puberty. I do not want her to panic at the time. So if she decides to become a ninja, tell her before she goes to the academy. If she doesn't, lead her on and help her through those years. I hope she turns into a beautiful young woman. I will miss you all.

—— Uzumaki Arashi. The Yondaime Hokage.

"Sigh… Arashi… Even after death you still want the best for your child." After a thorough body check, they had found another scroll containing contents addressed to the Sandaime, who was once again reminiscing when Yondaime was expecting his child.

—4 months earlier—

"Ahh! Where's the cradle building set I ordered! Ahh! What about the baby clothes! AHH! What about the four pounds of fudge I ordered!"

"Honey? Calm down please… Honey? HONEY!" Yelled a certain wife of the Yondaime.

"Yes dear?"

"I'm starting to wonder which one of us is pregnant here."

"Oh! Sorry! But what about my fudge! I NEED my fudge!"

(A/N: Hey, just because this is a drama fic, doesn't mean I can't add a little humor in the middle. Right?)

"Why do you need fudge anyways?"

"Oh that? No reason, just hungry is all." If his wife wasn't on a bed right now she would've face faulted.

"I swear, one of these days you're going to get killed in a mission for being too loud…"

"Dearest! How can you say that! WHAAA!" Have you ever seen a handsome grown man crying while running around in a circle? No? Naomi (let's give her a name) has seen it every day for the past 3 years.

"Well, at least calm down. You've already built 2 buildings and a small statue in honor of her!"

"Okay okay… I'll calm down. But I still want my fudge!"

—4 months later, night of the Kyuubi—

"I'LL KILL YOU! OMG! I WILL SO F&# KILL YOU AFTER THIS! huf-huf… AHHHH! YOU WON'T EVEN FEEL HALF OF THIS WHEN I'M DONE! AHHHHHH!"

"D..e..a..r… L..e..t… G..o … Y..o..u..r… C..h..o..k..i..n..g… M..e.. !"

"SHUTUP SHUTUP SHUTUP! AHHH!"

(A/N: If you hadn't guessed it, Naomi is in labor right now and is choking our dear Yondaime out of life.)

—1 hour later—(I Really love these change thingy's don't I?)

"Honey, look at out beautiful dau-"

"Oh! Just look at how handsome our son is!" Picking up the newborn baby out of his wife's' hands.

"Honey?"

"Just look at his face!" Blissfully ignoring his wife...

"Honey…"

"Wait… WHERE'S HIS THINGY!"

"HoNeY…"

"WHAA! MY SON HAS NO D-"

"HONEY!"

"Yes dear?"

"That's you beautiful lovely _daughter_. Now repeat after me… DAUGHTER"

"Daughter…" Letting this sit for a minuet.

"Daughter! Just look at our lovely daughter! Oh isn't she lovely!'

"Yes she really is."

"To celebrate this wondrous moment, LETS ALL GO OUT FOR FUDGE!

"Um… I have to stay in bed for at least a few days…"

"NO MATTER! LET'S ORDER SOME HERE THEN!" Picking up the phone "Now where's that phone book… ah… Hello? Fudge R Us? Yeah it's me again. No, make it eight pounds today. And can you get a fudge cake? The occasion? My daughter is born today! An extra free four pounds of fudge? Ah yes! Absolutely! Bring your family as well! No worries! Ok. Bye."

Naomi… .:Sweat drop…:.

"Dear… Calm down…"

"Hello? Satarubi? Party at the hospital! Why? Daughter today! Yes! Bye! Jaraiya? Newborn? How'd you know? You can here me screaming from the hospital? Huh… Well… Get here soon! And bring my water balloon! BYE!"

"Sigh…"

Suddenly, a ninja, looking quite panic stricken, burst through the door.

"Hokage-sama! There's a gigantic Fox on the loose!"

Putting down the phone, the Yondaime of Konoha suddenly became dead serious… "Assemble all jounin and ANBU forces we have. And round up all 2 and more years chuunin. Tonight's not a time for mistakes. Fudge will have to wait." 'Goddammit… I thought the Kyuubi was supposed to be trapped for another year or so… That's what all the scrolls said…'

"Hold it off until I get there. I need at least 1 hour to get prepared."

"As you wish Hokage-sama" As the nin poofed out of existence.

"Honey, what was that all about?"

"Dearest… We may not live today…" Voice turning to deathly whisper.

"What are you talking about!" Yelled his wife

"Well, it starts like this… Two centuries ago, a demon fox rampaged through the ninja lands… Eventually it came upon a humble sorcerer. As humble and weak as she seemed, she was the greatest in the world at the time. She challenged the Kyuubi, but lost… But with her final breaths, she sealed it inside a cave. Her name? Uzumaki Noriko."

"Your ancestor…"

"Yes… by the way?"

"Yes?"

"I always admired her so I was wondering if…"

"We'd name our daughter after her?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Okay. Uzumaki Noriko it is." Sweetly smiling at her husband. She was leaning in for another kiss, until...

"ARASHI!" Another nin poofing out of nowhere. Satarubi.

"Satarubi! What's wrong!"

"Giant Fox is attacking the village!"

"Don't worry, I sent a ninja to gather the troops. I just need 1 hour to get ready for something."

"I'll help you prepare. Let's go." Getting ready to leave the room, the Yondaime stopped for a moment.

"Dear… Naomi… If I don't get out alive, remember I will always love you."

"NO! DON'T SAY THAT!" Soon she was crying her eyes out "WE _WILL_ LIVE TONIGHT! YOU _WILL_ SAVE THE VILLAGE! AND WE _WILL_ SEE OUT DAUGHTHER GROW UP!" Her voice soon becoming desperate_ "_AND and… I love you too…"

And with that she drove him into a passionate kiss. The only kind you get when you truly love someone, who loves you back… (A/N: I wish i had that...)

"And honey?" Breaking off the kiss.

"Yes dear?"

"I know what you're thinking… You're going to seal the fox into her, Aren't you?"

"Yeah… How did you know?" Startled at her knowledge.

"I know you more than anyone else. Of I should. I _AM_ your wife after all"

"Dearest Naomi…, I love you with all my heart. But I love the village as well, I would sacrifice everything for it… Even my own life…" A single tear sliding down his cheek…

.:Cough:. .:Cough:. A noise from Satarubi broke the deathly silence in the air.  
"Oh... .:Ahem:. I bid you goodbye Uzumaki Naomi." Giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

And with that, he… leaped out the window with Satarubi following close behind.

Alone in the room she whispered softly to herself, "Good Luck you dumb loveable idiot…" A tear, slowly glistening in the darkness…

--Present-- (did you forget this was just a flashback of a flashback? I kinda did…)

Satarubi sighed into the tiny bundle in his arms. Wrapped in the Yondaime's cloak no less. "Oh, dear… What am I going to do with you?" Saying to the baby that was cooing in his arms.

'She seems so… delicate, fragile… I must honor his wishes… I am sorry Noriko… but from now on, your name shall be… Uzumaki Naruto'

In what said it to be an act of care... He shouted to the heavens...

"Hear this Yondaime, your daughter Uzumaki Noriko, is now your son… Uzumaki Naruto!"

.:Naruto season 1 opening playing in the backround:.

--Back to Noriko--

Well diary, I'd tell you more but I have to go to sleep now. Don't worry! I'll be back tommorrow!

---Uzumaki Noriko

To Be Continued

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What happens next? I don't know! Currently I'm just winging it here! All ideas straight fresh from my mind! 'Cept I do know what to do next chappie! 

6 pages… Currently my longest. O.O SORRY! I'll to make it bigger! Promise!

* * *

YAY! REVIEW PLS! 

Ja Ne!

See You Soon!

Soons Too Long! T.T

.:FayteAngel:.


	2. Revalations

Diclaimer: Jeese… I already told you I don't own Naruto, what more do you savages need!

Yeah… Updated once again, I'm not one to update fast, so be patient will ya? Ya, and if you don't I'll be forced to send millions upon millions of my squirrel army to bite off any manhood you men have left. And for the women, I shall send millions of rabid card game nerds to brag and bore you all with their game cards. Now, if don't leave a review I'll be forced to do that. So please leave a review… PLEASE! PRETTY PLEASE!

* * *

"Talking" 

'Thinking'

**SOMETHING NEEDED BOLDING, **probably demon talk or something…

_Jutsus _ex: _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_

_Emphasis_

—Scene/Time change—

Pairings: That's for me to know and you guys to go crazy thinking about it!

* * *

Chapter 2: Revelations 

August 29th, 2005.

Dear Diary,

Hello diary. It's me again, Noriko. I finally decided to put up the date, great huh? I feel as if you are the only thing in my entire life where I can be myself… Sad isn't it? Well, you wouldn't know, right? You're just a diary… just a diary…

I wish I could open up to others… But I can't… What will they think of me?

Uzumaki Naruto? Loudmouth of Konohagakure?

Uzumaki Noriko? Daughter of the Yondaime Hokage?

The transvestite?

The liar?

The idiot?

The prankster?

A true member of the Konohagakure?

See… That's the problem… I… Just don't know…

Oh my… I'm sorry… My tears have gotten your page wet… I'll clean it up…

I ruin everything… I'm even ruining you…

Please forgive me… Don't be like those villagers…

Their eyes… Their cold eyes…

It hurts when I see them, when I'm walking down the street…

Hmm… For some reason… I can't get out the thought of Sandaime telling me…

I… can never thank him enough… for telling me who I truly am…

--4 years ago-- (Noriko is 12, let's just say she started ninja school at 8)

"…Noriko…"

The door of the Sandaime's door creaks slowly open, revealing a small boy with blond, spiky hair and cerulean blue eyes, at about the age of 8, as well as a male chuunin towering over the boy. Complete with kunai and shurikan holders and a green chuunin vest. Only thing distinguishing is the never leaving scowl and hateful eyes seemingly directed towards the boy.

"Hokage-sama. I brought the boy you sent for." 'Maybe he'll finally kill the demon here and now.'

Taking another blow from his pipe, "That is all, you are dismissed."

"Yes Hokage-sama." Presenting a quick bow before leaving, as well as throwing another glare at the blond child.

.:eerie silence:.

"Ummm… Old man? Why did you call for me?" The boy finally spoke.

"Well… Naruto. This is about… Ninja school."

A cheerful shout coming from the boy had ment that the message had been taken the wrong way.

"YAHOO! CAN I REALLY GO!"

"Now now, settle down Naruto. This is important for you to hear this."

The blondie calming down enough to hear this out. "What is it? Is there a problem with me wanting to go to Ninja school?"

"No, no problem at all. This is about… a promise I made to your father."

Naruto's eyes widening in shock. "My… my father? You know who he is?"

"Naruto. Whatever I am about to tell you, must never leave this room. Okay?"

"Y-yes sir."

"Naruto… Do you know the difference between girls and boys?"

"Well of course Old man! Boys are stronger and faster than girls! And that boys must always protect the girl! Right?" The Sandaime cringed at this.

"Naruto, you must understand that that's not always true, remember that I told you not to base people on their genders."

"I know Old man, but sometimes, I hear people saying stuff like that all the time!"

Sandaime was tempted to ask if he heard anything else, but decided against it.

"Naruto, the truth is… You were born a female."

Anybody could instantly recognized the look of shock evident on the small boys' face. The shock of learning that you are not what you're supposed to be, but something completely else entirely would surprise anybody.

"What are talking about Old man?"

"Naruto, I must say this, when you were born, your father, the Yondaime Hokage, decided that it would be best if your true form was hidden, he wanted to give you a better life."

"W-WHAT! MY FATHER WAS THE YONDAIME! If he was the great and powerful Yondaime, why did he do this to me!"

"…Naruto, you know about what happened in the story of Fox, right?"

"…Yeah, the Nine-tailed fox, the Kyuubi, attacked our village one day, for 3 days, the ninja of the village fought valiantly. But in the end, neither of them could do anything about it, nothing stopped the beast. Then, the Yondaime came on a giant frog and battled the beast. And then he used an awesome justu and killed it, but in the process, he gave his own life in return." With the newfound information he gained, he was truly be able to speak in regret and sorrow with this story.

"Naruto, you know, that as the Yondaimes' daughter, that an orphan girl living be herself would be a hard life. As a boy, your chances, however slim would be greater."

"I-I know…"

"Now, as promised, you must not share this with anyone."

"I promise. But, why did you tell me this now? Just when I'm about to start ninja school?"

"Well, it was a promise I made to your father, a very sacred promise between friends."

"I understand…"

"But, know this, on your thirteenth birthday, the seal on your true gender will break. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes Old man."

"Sigh… When will you ever stop calling me old man?"

"When your not an old man anymore!" Already forgetting the tense feeling that had him a moment ago, he was already laughing on the floor.

"Naruto, remember that your actually a girl, at least try to be a little more lady-like."

"Fine! Jeese…" Pausing from the fit of laughter. "Hey, by the way Old man, if I'm actually a girl, then what's my real name? I hope it aint as stupid as something like Naruko or something, cause whoever gave me that name and just changed the K to a T to make a boys name has ZERO IMAGINATION!"

"No no, don't you worry, your real name is…"

Uzumaki Noriko, member of the village of Konohagakure.

--NOW BACK TO NORIKO'S DIARY--

Yeah, I guess that's how I learned my name, aint that great diary? Mmmhmm…

It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it… Just like that one boy… Oooh! I'm getting ahead of myself ain't I? Shut up! I know what your thinking!

SHUT UP! JERK! Well, I gotta sleep early! Tomorrow I'm going on my first "Real" mission! Ain't that great! Yay! Well, goodnight diary… Sleep tight.

--Uzumaki Noriko

* * *

Soooooooooooooooooooooooo bored! 

JEESE! I'M SOOOOOO BORED I CAN GO AND PLAY RESIDENT EVIL 4 AND NOT BE SCARED! YES! I'M THAT BORED!

Announcement 1

If any of you love to write and stuff, an author or something, or you just love to read stories and review, as well as chatting with fellow authors/fans then have I got the perfect place for you!

Here's a linky for bluezone777's Fanfiction forum! Oi! And guess what! There are even some authors from the fanfiction group, The Dark Icon Writers!

Cause of not allowing me to put up an active linky, you guys gotta…

Replace the (dot) with a .

And replace the (slash) with a /

Got it? Here you go.

http:(slash)(slash)bzfanfictionstudio(dot)spreebb(dot)com(slash)

Announcement 2

To all of you guys, if you think this entire thingy will be like that diary thing,

I got one thing to say…

…

…

…It won't…

…

…

Its just these first few chappies, kay? I'm not that really good with writing,… or spelling… So bear with me here, kay?

But I'm planning to do something with the diary for the story. It just won't be the entire thing.

And cause of this whole "DIARY" thing, I'm maybe thinking about renaming this fic, "My Diary, My Diary". What do you guys think about it?

Its gonna be like this,

DISCLAIMER

CHAPTERLY RANT

INFO

TITLE

WRITING AND STORY STUFF

DIARY ENTRY

END STORY

MORE RANTING

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

AND FINALLY ME TELLING YOU TO REVIEW! YAY!

Announcement 3

I'm sorry if this was a short chappie, but this was just ment to be a small intro to how she learned she is a girl and stuff, other than that, her life went completely as it did in the series, and now shes heading off to the Wave country. No worries, it ain't gonna be a complete rewrite of it, its gonna be different, seriously. Oi, and Noriko knows a couple of other stuff as well, I'm thinking about giving her a mastery of shadow skills, Kage bunshin, Kage shuriken, and other stuff, but I guess I can even make up skills by getting old ones and just adding Kage to it… Yeah I'm lazy, and know this, I never EVER tried to write a fighting scene, but I can try.

Announcement 4

Oh! And be sure to read my first Ficcy, Keitaro: Another Day! PLEASE!

* * *

YAY! REVIEW PLS! 

Ja Ne!

See You Soon!

Soons Too Long! T.T

Bai Bai!

.:FayteAngel:.


	3. Konohagakure

Disclaimer: Shoot. I asked those guys that actually OWN Naruto. And you know what they said? THEY SAID I CAN NEVER OWN NARUTO! BWAH!

* * *

Just a really quick update. It's cause I got a REALLY busy month ahead of me. No worries. I'm pretty sure it isn't TOO short. It's… umm… OKAY, just for now at least. Well, I hope you enjoy this, guys. Well, you better. Or else gigantic ferrets will invade my house and tear off my flesh. That would hurt a bit, won't it?

* * *

"Talking"

'Thinking'

**SOMETHING NEEDED BOLDING, **probably demon talk or some kinda noise.

_Jutsus _ex: _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_

_Emphasis_

—Scene/Time change—

Pairings: That's for me to know and you guys to go crazy thinking about it!

* * *

Chapter 3: Konohagakure

--Konohagakure, Apartment Area. 6:00am--

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and certain calmness swept through the village. Ah… peace and quiet. But as always, the world of a certain blond is never peaceful…

"KUSO KUSO KUSO! Ahhh! I'm gonna be late! Stupid alarm clock!"

And suddenly… a quick streak of orange burst through the skies. Naruto, once again clad in an orange jumpsuit.

"Why does anything work out for me! How can this get any worse?"

For normal people, this is where it ends. But for the few late, airborne ninjas, it never stops.

"Yes! I'm almost there!"

Naruto then suddenly leapt into the air, soaring over the rooftops, and overseeing the meeting place.

"YAY! So close!"

Naruto was very happy today, despite what you can tell from his earlier outburst. The morning rice balls were cooked to perfection. The hot water was working in the apartment, meaning an oddly nice morning shower. And he was able to do a quick cleanup in the apartment, thanks to the greatness of shadow clones. The whole alarm clock problem was just because the shadow clones broke it and never bothered to tell him.

Yes, it was a good day for Naruto. But, as a certain law of the universe, something bad was bound to happen.

"Tweet!"

There it is. The chaos and evil of the universe put and compacted in a convenient shape, an average, everyday bird.

"Whaa! Get away!"

And the bird broke Naruto's personal space and they both did the same thing any thing rushing at high speeds towards each other would do. They crashed and fell.

"Whaa!" "Tweet!" The victims screamed as they plummeted towards the ground.

Using shinobi skills… Naruto _tried_ to bounce of the walls to save himself, and the bird. But the only problem… Was that he tried, and failed. So in the end, the blond and the bird landed in a random alleyway.

"**OOF!**"

"I… I see… urgg…" He sat up and looked around his surroundings.

It looked like an average alleyway. Complete with dumpsters, trashcans, garbage, animals, and a huge evil looking cat grinning at his new partner in crime.

"Tweet… Tweet tweet?"

The tiny bird looked around as it could… Though the second it did, it noted that it broke its wing. "Tweet?" And then it saw the evil cat looking at it funny.

"TWEET!"

"AHHH! I hate cats..." He looked over to the small birdie accompanying him. "C'mon little guy, lets get!" As he picked it up and ran like the wind.

Even though the villagers were glaring at him like always, he didn't give a damn as he ran the farthest he could. "Must… find… hiding spot…" Then he stopped abruptly. "Wait… shinobi… jump… ROOF!" The brain suddenly registered as he jumped to the nearest roof he could.

"Ahhh… Finally away from the evil furry cat thing…" He looked over to the birdie. "Hey little guy, you okay?" He notices the tiny bird had broken its wing, and was desperately trying to fly with it. "Hey, hey… Calm down. Here, I can probably do something with that." He then reached into his pockets and pulled out an okay amount of bandages. He then slowly started to wrap it around the bird's wing.

"Hey, you don't look like a normal bird…" Upon closer observation, the bird was a bright lively reddish orange, with yellow mixed at areas. It could even be described as a fiery color. The top of its head was quite different, with feathers sticking out with the same color as the others. The feathers themselves were not of a clumped form, but more of a puffy, wild feel, though smooth and sleek as well. You would even be able to mistake the bird as fire itself. A flying wave of flame.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, this bird was known as one of the last of its kind. A phoenix, the legendary bird of eternal life, said that whenever one dies, it is reborn from the ashes. The death itself it always fiery, be it in water or anywhere else, dieing in a sudden burst of flame.

"Hmm, you look beautiful…" The bird screeched slightly in response. "Hey, would you like to be my friend?" The bird looked at Naruto confused. "Well…" Naruto's eyes started to droop and look sadder. "You'd be one the few I have, I mean, hey, yeah, I do have Team 7… But I'll never be able to call them my friends. Sakura is annoyed and hates me because she believes I'm just a lovesick idiot who doesn't know when to give up. Yet she acts the exact same way to Sasuke…. I can't believe her…" Now Naruto's eyes looked different. Almost in awe and admiration, though no one was even around except him and the bird. "Sasuke… He… He's so strong, I want to be like him… Don't get me wrong, that's it, I just want to be strong." Though the bird's eyes looked differently, almost saying 'Tell me the truth'. The eyes were just to compelling for Naruto. "Fine… Sasuke… He's the star of the village… Everyone loves him, admires him. Even though he's an orphan like me, he's treated so much better, never having to gain anything for him just to survive."

Naruto's eyes looked extremely hurt now. "Look at me… Everyone in the village wants to kill me, and they've tried many times already. I was kicked out of the orphanage when I was five… And then I had to gain an apartment of my own. And even then, I had no one to acknowledge me. No one to tell me, "You did great!" "Keep trying!"… And even… "We love you"."

Naruto's face suddenly looked completely opposite of what it did earlier, now happy cheerful, and full of life. "So, would you like to be my friend?" Somewhere in Naruto, he desperately wished it agreed. The phoenix saw that. And in response, it nodded. "Great! Now… I'm going to call you… Hinote!" The bird looked quite happy and content with its new name. "You like that don't you?".

He would've stayed longer, until he realized… "Oh god! I'm late! C'mon! You can meet the entire of Team 7!" He jumped off the building with the bird flying by. Jumping through the village with Hinote never far behind.

And, Naruto? He looked the same as always, happy. But this time, it was genuine.

--Village Gates. 7:30am--

"AHHHH! THAT IDIOT IS LATE!" An unbelievably shrill voice yelled.

Once again, Sakura, referred by Naruto as Sakura-chan, Sasuke as Hmph, and everyone else as the big fore headed, violent, shrill, pink-haired, lunatic, female loudmouth, was fuming like no tomorrow. Her source of anger was the loud blond known as Naruto, who by her watch, was half an hour late.

What REALLY ticked her off was that Kakashi-sensei was even earlier than Naruto.

And that she hoped he didn't bring anything new or stupid with him, because she had enough weirdness today.

'That baka better not be doing anything stupid today… WE'RE FINALLY GOING OUTSIDE THE VILLAGE TODAY!' She thought, though inner Sakura had things as well, 'Yeah! C'mon! If that baka is anymore late, let's crush him like a bug! YEAH!'.

So, they all just waited. Until they heard a familiar voice,

"AAAAH! I'M LATE I'M LATE I'M LATE!"

And there he was, the loudmouth of Konoha, running for his life with a red bird flying closely. And when he arrived, he brought on a dust cloud on everyone.

Everyone immediately started hacking and coughing, though Naruto wasn't affected and Sasuke was trying _not _to cough, because that would be out of character, and a bishonen such as him spent a lot of time perfecting the 'Angsty, gloomy, and all around depressed jerk' look, and mood. And we wouldn't want those six years he spent perfecting it to go to waste right?

"Gomen nasai!" The blond said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I ummm… well…"

"Oh shut it Naruto-baka!" Sakura nearly screamed, _until_ she saw what was perched on Naruto's shoulder.

Seeing the beautiful bird on Naruto's shoulder made Sakura and Inner Sakura's mind's race a mile per minute. Sakura thought, 'Oh wow! Kawaaaaaai! That bird looks so cool! …Though not as cool as Sasuke-kun, but still pretty darn cool!' Though Inner Sakura had different thoughts running through her mind, 'What the hell! Naruto's bird looks so cool! Hey… LET'S TAKE IT AWAY FROM HIM! HE DOESN'T DESERVE A BIRD THAT COOL! LET'S GIVE IT SASUKE-KUN! THEN HE'LL LOVE US! YEAH!'.

As always, Sakura learned in her past experience… _always_ listen to Inner Sakura. Though not a good thing to know…

"Naruto! That bird is too cool for you! It'd be much better with Sasuke-kun!" She yelled as she tried to grab the bird on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto could tell Sakura was trying to harm one of his only friends, and even though he had told the world he likes her, nothing, absolutely _nothing_ was going to happen to his friend, not if he's still living and breathing.

"NO!" Naruto yelled as he did a quick roundhouse to Sakura's hands, stopping her from grabbing Hinote.

"OW!" Sakura yelled, as she rubbed her wrists to soothe the pain she was experiencing. After a second of this, she started to glare daggers at Naruto. It seemed someone was about to get a beating.

'How could he! The dobe would never do this to me! He will pay, _he will_.' So with anger filled energy, she attacked Naruto with all her might. "NARUTO-DOBE! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" She yelled as she charged.

Naruto had also learned something in his short life, NEVER mess with Sakura and stay for the punishment. So he did the only thing he could do, he jumped into nearby trees and ran.

Through this all, Kakashi and Sasuke had been watching with wide eyes, confused on what had happened.

With Sasuke, he had been thinking, 'What the hell just happened! The dobe just attacked Sakura, his crush! This would never happen!' Somewhere inside Sasuke, he was cheering for joy, for Naruto might have finally gotten over Sakura.

Sasuke quickly shook his head and returned to his thoughts, 'NO! I AM NOT GAY. THAT'S IT. THERE IS NO WAY I LIKE THE DOBE. ABSOFRIGGIN NO WAY.'

Though with Kakashi, even though he was confused, he was a bit proud. 'This is good, maybe Naruto finally got over Sakura, and maybe he won't be so distracted on this mission.' He thought.

--Same place, 30 minuets after--

Eventually Naruto had come back, but as they waited for Kakashi to be back with the client Sakura was glaring at Naruto for 'embarrassing' her in front of Sasuke. But Naruto, completely oblivious, was playing with Hinote. Sasuke just sulked.

2 minuets later, Kakashi was back, and with him, the client. He started to reintroduce the client, a slightly old and dirty man. "Well Team 7, if you remember him, this is-"

"My name is Tazuna the legendary bridge builder. And you brats are here to escort me to the Wave country." He said as he took another swig from his sake.

* * *

No ranting today either. I guess I just really wanted a quick update. Bwah, I hate school. Cept, you need to note that when Noriko is still a boy, I'll be referring her as Naruto, it won't be longer till they find out, so no worries, just be patient.

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Translation notes

Hinote: flames. Yeah, I woulda named it something like kachuu, or hosaki. But Hinote sounds much cuter and much better name for Noriko-chan's friend/pet.

* * *

Nyah. No announcements today. Sorry guys!

Except…

Announcement (.)

For writers, it's best for them to be continually drowned in an incredible amount of reviews. Yup. I'm totally serious. So please review, PLEASE!

* * *

If you love this ficcy, PLEASE REVIEW!

Bai Bai!

.:Fayte Angel:.


	4. Two Brothers and a Demon

Disclaimer: …Me + Naruto I don't own Naruto. Naruto - Me Good. Stupid math… this is EXACTLY why I hate math…

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Rant rant rant. Rant rant rant? RANT! Rant rant rant rant rant!

…Can't understand rant?

Well, in translation, it's: "Well, here's another update. But, hey, what's up all? HONTO! Well, don't need to say that, so bring it on!"

RAAAAAANT!

Translation: "I'm soooooo bored!"

* * *

"Talking" 

'Thinking'

**SOMETHING NEEDED BOLDING, **probably demon talk or some kinda noise.

_Jutsus _ex: _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_

_Emphasis_

—Scene/Time change—

Pairings: That's for me to know and you guys to go crazy thinking about it!

* * *

Chapter 4: Two Brothers and a Demon.

--South of Konoha. Road to Wave Country. 10:00 am--

Naruto sighed while walking on the road. He was tired due to lack of sleep, being bored because nothing exciting had happened, and disappointed because he had thought that outside of Konoha would be a great and wondrous place. Not the boring road he was walking on. At least Hinote, who was perched on his shoulder, seemed to have a good time looking through his hair for bugs.

Sakura was glaring at Naruto intensely. She still had not forgotten the moment when Naruto had ruined her 'present' for her beloved 'Sasuke-kun'. At the times when she had doubted herself and believed she had faulted, Inner Sakura was there to tell her the pain she was feeling in her hand was all Naruto's fault. So she continued to glare at Naruto, not noticing her surroundings.

Sasuke was relived. He had learned to treasure these moments when Sakura, or some other fangirl of his wasn't clinging to his arm or literally chasing him through Konoha, alleyway and sewers included. He was always creeped out at what his fangirls could do. He shuddered slightly at the memory of getting out of bed, just to find a fangirl clinging to his ankles from under the bed.

Other than that, Sasuke busied himself thinking bishonenly about Naruto, trying to shut up the annoying voice inside his head, which in this case, was giving him many thoughts and arguments of his feelings for Naruto.

Kakashi was just busying himself with his latest issue of Icha Icha Paridise, volume 10, giggling like a school girl with a perverted blush on his cheeks. You'd be seeing a perverted smile too, but it was covered by his mask, which he has had since he was born. It had scared many doctors to find a newborn baby with a mask on, right after coming out of the womb.

Tazuna the bridge builder was busy drinking his sake. Well, until he ran out and threw the empty bottle over his shoulder, where Naruto had been unlucky enough to guard the rear.

Time slowed down somewhat as some stared at what would be the inevitable event that was going to occur.

Naruto, noticing this ahead of time, surprised everyone by dodging the incoming liquor bottle. And to add to the surprise, he actually caught it with one hand, and flipped over to Tazuna.

"I believe this is yours Old Man." He said confidently before handing it to him.

"Uh, yeah sure kid…" He carelessly replied before holding onto it once more.

Everyone else would have said something, but they were quite surprised with Naruto's sudden display of skill. But they quickly got over it and shrugged. Leaving it completely to dumb luck.

'D-did they notice? I hope they did! Especially Sasu-- NUH UH! Calm down…' Naruto thought using a style of what he called, 'Noriko Style', which he wasn't supposed to show until the birthday.

Soon enough, they were trekking down the road again, just passing a small bridge with two puddles on both sides. Kakashi and his keen eye immediately took note of the puddles. As well as did Naruto.

Soon after, they heard a strange tinkle of metal, which was quickly dismissed as a chain weight suddenly flew through the trees and wrapped up Kakashi.

The genin's gasps were barely heard as they saw their own Sensei being torn to shreds, and two darkly dressed nins fly out of the trees.

One nin was slightly taller the other and holding the chain Sickle. While the shorter one had a pair of double ended kunai's dripping in what seems to be poison. They both dressed the same though. The standard Chunin mist shinobi gear with dark brown, ratty and torn capes draped over them.

"Heh, looks like the Jounin is gone." "Yes brother, the bridge builder is an easy target now…"

Sakura was fear stricken of the two shinobi's and the death of their Sensei. But even though, she was the first to speak.

"Who the hell are you two! And what did you do to Kakashi-sensei!"

The taller of the two chuckled slightly and began the introductions.

"I am Suchi and this" Pointing towards his brother "is Sai."

The shorter of the two started to continue.

"And we are the deadly Demon brothers," He stated as they both began to rush towards the group "as well as your executioners!"

They were all scared of what would happen. Sakura was still and frozen, completely fearful of her life, though Naruto and Sasuke had other plans. Naruto first put Hinote onto a small stump before getting ready though.

They both began to charge at the two, Sasuke going for the one with the chain sickle, and Naruto for the one with the kunai's.

Sasuke's fight began as Sasuke unleashed a barrage of shurikan at the Nin, who quickly dodged out of the way and set the weight of the sickle flying towards Sasuke. Sasuke rolled out of the way and ingeniously stuck a kunai in between some of the chain links of the sickle. Doing so made the sickle unstable and much slower. Sasuke quickly used all the power he had and swung the chains and flung it back towards the Nin. The Nin was trapped on the spot due to lack of and disruption of his momentum. Needless to say, the heavy weight promptly slammed into his face and sent him flying out cold to one of the trees. Sasuke however started to gain his bearings. Almost completely unaware of the poison dipped kunai heading straight for his arm.

Meanwhile, Naruto was fighting against the shorter Nin. The fight started out with Naruto running forward and was readying an attack which seemed to be meant to be a punch to the others gut, but completely surprising him with a knee to the face. The Mist Nin quickly recovered from the blow and sent a water jutsu after Naruto. Naruto however, put his hands to his favorite sign and yelled out…

"_KAGE-BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"_

A clone or two took the hit while the many Naruto's started to surround the Chunin. The Nin was promptly surrounded by clones and needless to say, he had a zero of a chance. A few seconds later he was down, but had thrown one of his kunai's in a last ditch effort to attack. The kunai was quickly heading towards a familiar Onyx eyed bishonen.

It was kind of late as the kunai scrapped Sasuke's left arm, dripping with poison the whole way.

Sakura, who did literally nothing to contribute to the fight against the brothers, screamed her head out at the sight of her precious 'Sasuke-kun' fight against one of them, and eventually being hurt with the poisonous liquid.

Sasuke held onto his arm in seething pain and Naruto was quickly rushing towards him. During this, Kakashi walked into the scene with the same lazy air about him.

"Hmm, it seems I wasn't needed for this fight." He looked over to each and every single person in the immediate area.

He looked over to Naruto and Sasuke. "Good job you two. Taking on Chunins like that, separately even, is worth quite the applause. You both used brain power to solve a way to defeat your opponents. Sasuke with the kunai to slow down the chain and use its own power against him, and Naruto with an unpredictable attack that would be hard to see, and the use of Kage Bunshins in the method of both attack and defense. Great job you two."

"But…"

He looked over towards Sakura. "Sakura, you froze at the worse possible time for a kunoichi, let alone any ninja, to have. You did not lift a single finger to help either of them and doing so, led to the damage of one of your teammates. If you had helped either of them, you could have warned him of the incoming kunai. In anyways, if they had not been fighting to protect you and Tazuna, you would have died while doing nothing."

"B-but!" Sakura started.

"No buts. Now, let's get Sasuke patched up now, shall we?"

He looked over again to the two to see that Naruto was slowly draining out the poison already by puncturing Sasuke with a kunai and letting the poisoned blood drain out slowly which he caught with one of Tazuna's many discarded sake bottles.

Sakura was starting to freak out right about now.

"Naruto-baka! What the hell do you think you're doing! You're going to hurt Sasuke-kun you stupid idiot!" She yelled as she was about to intervene.

"No" Kakashi's arm stopped her immediately. "Don't you realize that this is the only way for the poison to be drained out? Would you rather see him die?"

"B-but… Sasuke-kun, doesn't it hurt?"

He glared at her intensely while Naruto was starting to wrap up his arm in bandages. "Sakura. I am a ninja. I am an avenger. I cannot allow a little pain to stop me now. If I die, I would wish to be of a greater cause, not just to die from your stupidity and lack of common sense to allow others to help."

By now, Naruto was finished wrapping the bandages around his arm and tied it securely.

Sasuke was just suddenly aware about how close he was sitting with Naruto and lightly blushed, not enough for anyone to see it, but he did blush. But the only visible change was a slight smile.

"Thanks. Good job d-dobe. Looks like you can actually be useful sometimes."

The inner Noriko was already screaming inside her head, yelling incoherent things. Though most seemed to be a mixture of yelling and words such as 'He is so hot when he smiles!' and 'Boo-ya!'

Though outside he did the one thing he would have. He yelled at Sasuke.

"I told you to shut up and to stop calling me a dobe!"

Sasuke plugged up his ears and replied. "Well, that's the thanks I get for giving a complement.

Sakura was watching all this with a glare, completely fixated on Naruto.

"Now… On to more pressing matters." He turned to Tazuna. "Why were those two intently fixated upon getting you?"

"I - I have no idea of what you mean..." He stammered slightly.

"No. Tell us now. Tell us everything we need to know."

Tazuna sighed and told his story.

"It's like this. The wave country is very poor and lives under the rule of a business tycoon known as Gatou. He is a rich man who controls all of our imports and exports and is intent of having complete control over the Wave country. With it being a port town, it would be ideal for a business man to control this, being able to know all trades going on and having control on them. No one of the Wave country has much money. Even the Daimyo is poor. So we of the village pooled most of our money together, but we weren't even able to scrap by with the decent amount of money one would need for a B or an A rank mission. The least we could afford would be a C rank."

"I see, with trained Nins after you, of course this would be ranked a B rank. And this Gatou of yours probably wants you dead."

"Yes, that is how it is. I wish we could have finished this mission. My cute little grandson will be so disappointed, s well as my daughter. Oh woe is me."

He was literally pulling on the guilt strings of everyone here.

But even with everyone so guilty, Naruto was the first one to speak up.

"Okay okay! Geese! Fine, we'll keep going! Let's go!" He yelled as he started marching forward.

"Yeah. Let's go, we still have a long way till we reach the village." Kakashi said as he finished up on tying the two Nins together with a note saying, 'Bad nins of the mist, courtesy of Team Kakashi.'

* * *

--Northern area of Wave country. Road to the Village. 12:30 pm--

Naruto and friends, except Sakura, are walking down towards the Village of the Land of Waves. They are as normal as ever, well, as normal as this certain group could be, until Naruto suddenly heard something and threw a Kunai into the bushes.

"Naruto-baka, what the hell are you doing! Stop trying to be all cool like Sasuke!"

'Damn Sakura is loud, and damn what a huge ass forehead she has.' Naruto and Sasuke thought at the same time.

She ran quickly to wherever he threw the kunai towards.

When she saw what he hit in the bushes, she yelled at him to get over there.

What she saw was a snow rabbit nearly scared to death.

Naruto immediately began to apologize and coddle the little bunny, while Hinote was watching it and looking it over from Naruto's shoulder.

"Aw! Mister bunny! I'm so sorry! Whahahahaa!" But he really didn't need to start crying.

Kakashi noticed a few things about the bunny that he shouldn't have needed to if it was a normal rabbit. 'The coat is white… It doesn't make sense in any way. A rabbit, especially a snow rabbit would have the coat turn to a hazel brown due to the sun. This was definitely locked up and held in captive to be solely used for a Kawarimi.'

He had to stop examining it though, because he quickly forced everyone down with the command of "Everyone get down now!" He quickly yelled as a gigantic spinning object whizzed right about their heads and embedded itself into a nearby upper tree.

Just then, a Nin wearing a pair of black slacks with bandages wrapping up to his shin, a white, sleeveless shirt, bandages wrapping the bottom half of his face much like Kakashi, and a Mist Nin headband with a slash across it symbolizing that he is a missing Nin, arrived onto the scene landing on the branch nearby his sword.

Kakahi narrowed his eyes at said Nin.

With a grim tone, he talked slowly, seemingly to himself.

"Zabuza, missing Nin, and demon of the Hidden Mist."

Everyone stared forward into the eyes of the Nin overlooking them. Killing intent just leaking from those two dark, shimmering orbs.

* * *

: Translation Notes : 

Dobe: Loosely translated to 'Dead Last', an insult most common to those that nearly failed all academics or has the lowest grades of the class.

Daimyo: A lord of a country, area or province.

Kawarimi: A replacement jutsu used for one person to be able to quickly replace themselves with another object, item or person nearby.

* * *

Nope, no announcements nyah, other than me being bored out of my skull! .:Sigh:. I'm so bored nyah… But hey, if I wasn't bored, you guys wouldn't be reading this, well? Is my boredom a gift or a curse? What about my obsession with learning? IT'S DEFINITELY NOT HEALTHY. I go through… phases of learning. If I want to learn something, I spend weeks and months learning it, and when I learned enough, at least until high-school to collage/university level, I stop and go on to something else completely. I'm thinking I'm insane for a 13 turning 14 year old, hmmm?

* * *

If you love this ficcy, PLEASE REVIEW!

Bai Bai!

.:Fayte Angel:.


	5. We are a team

Disclaimer: Hey, got milk? Yes? Got Naruto? Not me… Milk sucks, Naruto rocks. I don't have either of them.

---

Sorry for the EXTREMELY SLOW update all… But I've been having MAJOR trouble with WinWord… And it's SERIOUSLY not helping me at all…

Can anyone suggest a better one, so I can keep updating?

I actually had to write this whole thing on NOTEPAD.

Notepad everyone… It was brutal looking for my own spelling mistakes and grammar problems. T.T So can anyone suggest one? Pleeaaaaase?

Well, past that… On with the show!

---

"Talking"

'Thinking'

**SOMETHING NEEDED BOLDING, **probably demon talk or some kinda noise.

_Jutsus _ex: _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_

_Emphasis_

—Scene/Time change—

Pairings: That's for me to know and you guys to go crazy thinking about it!

---

Chapter 5: We are a team

--Northern wave country--

Everyone stared forward into the eyes of the Nin overlooking them. Killing intent just leaking from those two dark, shimmering orbs.

It was unusually silent with the ever energetic Team 7, but that was because of the 6" ninja with a giant sword staring at them. Naruto was always somewhat observant, even though it doesn't seem like it. It seems like running away from villagers and various shinobi while pulling multiple pranks can help somewhat when it comes to being aware of your surroundings. But, even though he wasn't an idiot, he was incredibly dense. So naturally, Naruto was the first one to break the tense air.

He poked Kakashi and ever so bluntly said, "Hey, did you notice that freak has no eyebrows?"

Kakashi rubbed his temples in annoyance. "Naruto, just be careful, okay? This is an A rank missing nin from the hidden village of mist."

Zabuza straightened himself from the branch and landed onto the sword itself. "That's correct. I am the demon of the hidden mist, Momochi Zabuza, master of the art of silent killing. Isn't that correct, copy ninja Kakashi of the Sharingan?" He said quite smugly, feeling obviously superior to the genin and jounin below him.

Naruto and Sakura looked to Kakashi in awe, knowing that their teacher has something incredible like the _Sharingan_.

"Wait, hey Sakura-chan, what's a _Sharingan_?" Naruto said while scratching his head sheepishly.

"It's…" Sasuke shakily said, "It's a bloodline… Quite a powerful one as well, but it's only supposed to be passed down by the blood of a Uchiha…" 'Why… Why does someone like him have it? It's only supposed to be of _my_ clan. Not his!'

Naruto was surprised, learning that your teacher has something that only a Uchiha should have was quite strange.

"Enough of the chit-chat, if you're ninja, then fight me!" Zabuza roared as he bounced off the tree, readying his sword to cut Kakashi clean in two. Kakashi narrowly dodged it, but took a harsh wound to his left arm. "Dammit!" Kakashi threw a group of shuriken at Zabuza, only to have them all swatted away by his sword. Zabuza jumped back, onto the nearby lake before starting on the hand seals for,

"_Ninpou: Kirigakure no Jutsu_!"

The entire area began to mist over at the technique started to take affect. Almost nothing but mist and fog could be seen, other then the occasional outline of trees.

Kakashi was quick to react to the situation however. "Everyone, delta triangle position around the client, stay and protect as I handle this situation!" he yelled as he began to search for Zabuza, though useless as he couldn't see anything due to the mist.

"There are eight vital spots on the body, where should I strike?" Zabuza's voice echoed.

Team 7 was pretty much shaken. They were sittings ducks in this mist. Sakura was scared, though Inner Sakura continuously gave her support, making sure it didn't show on the outside. Sasuke was trembling slightly, fear leaking off him. Naruto was scared just as much, even more then the others. Though, the tiniest amount of bravery he still had inside was just enough. Hinote flew off his shoulder and perched on Sakura's.

Zabuza was going on, "The head, heart-"

"Shut up! Who cares if you might kill us! I'm going to be Hokage! You aren't going to stop me just by scaring all of us! Bring it on!" Naruto interrupted before pulling out a large amount of shuriken and jumping in the air and throwing them in all directions before making a few hand seals and yelling,

"_SHURIKEN KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU_!"

And suddenly, hundreds of shuriken were filling the sky and the sound of Zabuza's sword reflecting a large amount of them was all Naruto needed before making even more hand seals.

"_BAKURETSU SHURIKEN KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU_!"

Then the shuriken doubled once more and large chains of explosions riddled the area, with the shifts of wind that the explosions caused dispersing the mist. Zabuza's cry could be heard as many shuriken were deflected by his sword, but the after explosions sending him into a tree.

If you said Team 7 was surprised, after that display of Naruto's, it would have been a horrible understatement. Sakura had wondered how she could learn that to impress Sasuke, and that why didn't she think of that. Sasuke was still trembling, though this time it was in pure rage and envy. He wanted to know where the deadlast learned jutsus like these. 'These techniques… Where did he learn this? I… I need him to give me them… With these, I can kill that man…' Kakashi, at the moment, was most surprised. He was positive Naruto barely knew any jutsus other then _Kage Bunshin_ and the _henge_, seeing as how he failed the _kawarimi_ and the normal _bunshin_.

They all heard a cough in the distance and turned their heads in that direction to see a slightly disheveled, but overall fine Zabuza walking out of the smoke.

Naruto grinned in triumph, "Hah! You're not so tough now, huh big sword cleaver wielding guy?" Naruto laughed as Hinote, glided onto his shoulder and chirped happily.

"Naruto, don't be too overconfident, you need to always pay attention to the enemy!" Kakashi reminded him. "Yeah yeah, I know" Huffed Naruto.

Zabuza chuckled slightly. "Heh heh. You're pretty good for a genin, kid. You and Kakashi may be able to entertain me for a bit" He dusted off his arm of some dirt. "Though I do have to wonder… Where a brat like you could learn something like that"

"Hah! There's no way I'd ever tell you, No brows!" Naruto yelled as he once again rushed the Missing nin wielding two kunai in both hands. "You'll lose to me, no matter what you do!" Naruto roared as he swung a kunai at Zabuza, slashing him across the torso. The 'Zabuza' dissipated into water before his very eyes however. Naruto felt a presence behind him and swung around but was immediately lifted up by his throat into the air. "Kid, you have a lot to learn." Zabuza chuckled as he threw him into a tree. "You may be a nuisance later on, so I should finish you before you can do anything that may ruin my plans." Zabuza said as he raised his sword and proceeded on to cleaving off Naruto's head.

A single shuriken and a poof of smoke were left in Naruto's place. He had used kawarimi to replace himself. Zabuza was about to look for him, though the split second that his sword touched the shuriken, it exploded. Zabuza was sent flying across the dirt field covered with small burn marks. Spotting Naruto high in the air, he then flipped over and threw his sword at the orange blur in the sky, before another poof of smoke and another exploding shuriken sent his sword whirling right back at him. He rolled out of the way and grabbed his sword and blocked a flying ball of fire fired in his direction from a certain raven haired teen. Sasuke looked awfully smug though.

Zabuza was then hit with another, smaller fire ball from behind. It seems though Sasuke sent the initial fireball as a distraction as another fireball came from above to hit Zabuza in the back. The 'Zabuza' however, dissipated into water, and Sasuke felt a chill behind him and ducked as Zabuza swung his sword over his head. Who then continue to swing his sword at Sasuke until he finally found an opening and swung downwards, completely intent on slicing him in half. Then another poof of smoke appeared before him, but instead of finding the exploding shuriken, there was Naruto, who deflected his sword just barely, though he ended up leaving himself in a completely defenseless position, which Zabuza went along with slicing him in half.

Then right before he was able to even touch him, a blur came out of nowhere and deflected his blade. Said blur then continued on by kicking Zabuza clear across the field. "Not while I'm his sensei." Kakashi coolly said as he lowered his outstretched leg. "Ka…Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed as he tried to push himself off the ground.

Sakura and Sasuke rushed up beside Kakashi and dropped into defensive stances in front of Naruto. "Hey dobe, don't forget we're a team. Don't be so stupid as to rush in all by yourself again, got it?" Sasuke spoke up as he looked to Naruto and gave him a slight grin, which quickly turned into a smirk. "Yeah Naruto, next time tell us when you're going to do something!" Sakura yelled, though obvious she was a tiny bit worried.

Naruto felt quite a lot of blood rushing to his head at the moment. He looked towards them through blurry eyes, before wiping some strange liquid out of them. "Y-yeah! We're a team!" He yelled while jumping up. "Let's kick his ass together!"

"I don't think that's necessary."

Said a voice as two senbon flew from the trees and right into the steadily rising Zabuza's neck. They heard a chuckle as a masked nin dropped from the trees, wearing a dark green rope, with a brown sash tying it closed, brown shorts, and what seems to be a brown sweater underneath the robe. Though, what stood out most was a strange mask with red markings the boy had on.

The nin then spoke to them, "Thank you very much in your assistance in the detainment of A-Rank missing nin, Momochi Zabuza. I am one of the hunter nin who were dispatched to look for him." He then proceeded to pick up Zabuza's still body and sword. "Thank you very much once again".

Naruto then stepped in front of him just as he was about to leave. "I thought that the head of the nin was enough, not the whole body…"

"As you may know, Zabuza was one of the Seven Swordsman of the mist, seven highly skilled swordsmen with specialized swords that were fitted to their needs as a ninja. Zabuza's sword may not seem to have any ability, but haven't you wondered how he was able to move so fast with such a sword?" The nin said coolly.

"Hmm… Now that you think of it, it was strange…" Naruto said as he went into thinking mode. "Well, his swords ability is to change its weight depending on how the chakra flowed within it." "What do you mean by that?" asked Sasuke.

"I'm sorry but I cannot divulge any more information, be noted however that we'll need his body in order to learn the relation between it and the sword. Now if that is all, I must be going". Said a more irritated nin as he readied to leave.

By now, Naruto was feeling like a huge idiot. "Oh… Umm… Sorry for questioning your duties. That's all." He said as he rubbed the back of his head. Then the nin jumped quickly into the trees and bounded off into the distance.

Sakura ran up to Naruto and hit him quickly over the head. "Naruto you idiot! That guy took down Zabuza in one shot! Be careful who you bother next time!" She yelled "Idiot's these days… I swear."

Kakashi looked out to the distance and narrowed his eyes to where the nin had left. He knew something wasn't right, but decided to put it off. "Great job everyone, your first battle against an experience nin and you all did well. Especially you Naruto, you did an impressive job" Who he then proceeded to pat on the head.

They then departed once again towards the town. Though along the way, Sasuke paused by and gave him, by Naruto's words, his first ever genuine smile. "Thanks Naruto. I would have died without you." Then he left without another word, shifting his face back into the indifferent stare.

'Is it hot out here or is it me?' thought an extremely flushed Naruto. 'I… I wish I could tell them… About me…'

They then continued to travel on towards the town where Tazuna lived so they could finish this dangerous mission once and for all.

---

Translation Notes:

Shuriken kage bunshin no justu. (shuriken shadow clone): As the name states, it creates multiple shadow clones of an existing shuriken. With the small form needed to copy, it is possible to create up to a couple dozen, if not a hundred shadow clones, for those with a little more than normal chakra reserves.

Bakuretsu shuriken kage bunshin no jutsu. (exploding shuriken shadow clone): Same as the shuriken kage bunshin, you create multiple shadow clones of the shuriken, though these shuriken explode on contact with any solid object. Due to the nature of the explosion, these clones would take up even more chakra than its father jutsu.

Kawarimi no jutsu. (replacement): The user replaces themselves with any nearby object or person in a way to avoid, or in Naruto's case, go into an attack.

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Hey, just in case a buncha you lazies didn't read the first note, I REALLY need a better word program? Can anyone suggest a good one? Thanks in advance everyone!

If I get a good one, I'll update within 1-2 weeks, kay? Okay!

I'll try not to take that long however.

Oh, and don't forget to review afterwards! My zombie army is ALWAYS looking for new brains that forget to review… Hehehe.

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Bai bai everyone!

.:Fay:.


	6. The Calm Before the Storm

Disclaimer: I don't Naruto, and I never will 

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"Talking"  
'Thinking'

**SOMETHING NEEDED BOLDING**, probably demon talk or some kinda noise.

_Jutsus_ ex: _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_

_Emphasis_

**—Scene/Time change—**

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Chapter 6: The Calm Before the Storm

**--Tazuna's house--**

The air was thick and heavy with tension. Ever since the Zabuza incident, Tazuna had been trapped in mild shock, only able to tell partial amounts of the story at a time. Finally reaching his house, Tazuna was finally ready to tell them the final part to his story. Sitting them down and introducing them to his daughter, Tsunami, he made sure they were comfortable for beginning his story. 

"Gato has been terrorizing this land for as long as I can remember, and no one had really attempted to do much to stop it." Tazuna said as he looked to the side, ashamed.

"No one but a single man. And when he was put to Gato's justice, we did nothing to stop it..." He trailed off. "It's been quite a while since that incident, but everyone is still in fear for the example he set out." He said as he exhaled slowly.

"But I'm tired of all the fear we've been put through because of a single man. No, we're all tired of it. Unless we did anything, we'd be trapped in a never ending time of despair." Grabbing a nearby sake bottle, he took a sip, just to calm his nerves before he continued. "So in a last ditch effort to stop him, we gathered up all the money we could and requested a C-rank mission from Konoha."

Looking at Tazuna strangely, Kakashi threw in his two cents. "But why the leaf? Why not the hidden village nearby?"

"Simple, Gato has control over the borders separating the Wave from the Land of Water. We didn't really have any choice but the leaf per se."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Kakashi sat back a little easier as he stared at the rest of his team. "Well, I believe that's all then. We know the full story, and you kids already accepted, so I guess we have no other choice but to help you."

"Right!" Shouted Naruto

"Of course." Sakura agreed.

"Hmph." Nodded Sasuke.

With this, Team seven went to their respective rooms, and drifted off to sleep.

**--Morning, Forests Nearby Wave--**

"Okay everyone. As long as we have the time, I'll be teaching you a few things." Cheerfully spoke Kakashi as he looked on at the hopeful genin. "Seeing as my health is perfectly fine, I'll be able to teach you all a few things."

At the word of this, all three genin, who were previously just lazing around, quickly turned their attention to him. "First things first," He said as he whipped out a piece of paper. "Today, I'll be teaching you all special chosen lessons." Saying this, he dropped the paper bit into a small pouch.

"I hid three pouches in hidden spots somewhere within this forest. Each of you will be on a solo mission. First, you have to find a pouch, but you are not able to look inside them. During the time when you find the pouch, to the time you return to me, you are allowed to do whatever it takes to exchange the pouch you control, with another pouch someone else may have. However, when you get to me, you can only have one pouch, or you are disqualified from training."

Team seven looked at each other for a brief moment, thoughts of doubts arising in their minds. All their lessons to this point were about teamwork. Now he was pitting them all against each other. This had to be a joke. But, with the prospect of special training, they quickly joined in on the program.

"Ready. Set. Begin." Kakashi said as he read his book, not even flinching as the three young genin burst past him.

**--The Forests Nearby Wave, 20 minutes later--**

It took nearly twenty minutes, but Sakura had finally found a pouch to claim her own. Sasuke found a pouch first, with Naruto finding one immediately afterwards, with Sakura left to find one nearly ten minutes afterwards. Right after Naruto and Sasuke had found their pouches, Sakura could see that their eyes gleamed with the fire of rivalry and greed. 

Sakura just sighed as bursts of flame and clouds of smoke raced past her. 'Those two always fight for the smallest of reasons.' Sakura thought, slightly disappointed at their actions. Taking her cue, Sakura left, heading back to Kakashi as the two genin continued to fight.

"Come on Sasuke-teme! Can't you do better than that?!" Naruto taunted as he ducked under Sasuke's punch. "Che. I don't need to even try to beat a dead last loser." Sasuke retorted, jumping backwards, easily avoiding the blond's uppercut. "You'll pay for that!" "Let's see you try loser!" They shouted simultaniously, as they continued their fight.

"_Shuriken kage bunshin no Jutsu!_"

"_Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu_!"

Sakura just sighed.

**--The Forests Nearby Wave (again)--**

Kakashi and Sakura waited as they heard consecutive explosions and various grunts echo through the forest. The only thing that kept them on their guard was that those noises seemed to be getting closer. In no time at all, the noises ceased as two tired and ragged boys left the forest calmly, each proudly holding a different pouch. 

Looking up from his book, Kakashi congratulated the three genin, "Well. I'm surprised it took you all so long in finding those pouches. It took you all twice as long as I had expected. Either way, now, all of you, open them." He instructed.

Reaching into their respective pouches, the three genin took out the slips of paper and read what was written on them.

"Speed training." Sakura said, surprised.

"Spacial manipulation." Sasuke stated.

"Nature manipulation!" Naruto shouted joyfully.

'Not exactly what I was thinking, but this result should be interesting.' Kakashi thought, smirking slightly behind his mask.

"Well now, I guess we all know what we're going to be doing for the next couple of weeks. Everyone, follow me and get ready," Kakashi said happily, "because for now, you're all going to be in hell."

**--Wave country, Tazuna's house, four weeks later.--**

It had been nearly a month since the Zabuza incident, and team seven's training was going incredibly well, with one success after another. Within this time, the team has been able to get well acquainted with everyone in the small town, especially Tsunami and Inari, Tazuna's daughter and grandson respectively. Today was another day where Kakashi trained team seven into the ground, then healed them just to drive them into the ground again. This was especially apparent once the three genin barely limped into their respective rooms, with Kakashi looking as fresh as a daisy. 

Seeing her opportunity, Tsunami took this chance to appear from around the corner to tell them dinner was ready. Minutes later, team seven was already at the dinner table, picking food off the table as fast as humanly possible. Well, Naruto and Sasuke certainly were, being the most competitive ones in the house while Sakura and Kakashi ate slowly. There wasn't much in quantity concerning food, but the quality was certainly surprising, seeing as there was only rice and commonly caught fish.

Not long after dinner started, Inari said, suddenly breaking the light air with his own harsh words. "You're all going to die anyways, so why bother training! Why don't you just go ahead and leave!" He shouted, his eyes shadowed over by his rimmed hat. "You have no chance against Gato's men! Just get out! Out!" He continued, yelling angrily at the small gathering, small streaks of tears running down his shadowed face.

Silence took over the dining room as the only sound left was the boy's heavy panting. Moment passed before a single voice reached their ears. "Pathetic. You're just pathetic. You're nothing more than a pathetic child just pretending that the world revolves around him." Whispered a familiar yet cold voice. "We're training so brats like you can stay happy and innocent, not bitter and pathetic like you already are."

And with that, Naruto stood up and pointed a single finger at the boy in the striped hat. "You can't tell us to give up, when you're not even trying. Just go be the little boy you are. Stop kidding yourself, thinking that you're a man. A man wouldn't cry in these kinds of situations." Naruto said, his voice barely above a whisper. Turning around and walking away, Naruto made his way to the door, and when asked where he was going, he simply stated, "Out" and left.

Inari, taking his lead, left the room in silence, running back to his only sanctuary from Gato; his room on the upper floor.

The air that was left at the dinner table was stifling enough to choke on, to say the least. Sakura couldn't believe that Naruto had suddenly just flipped out at Inari, at such a small thing as well. She wasn't even sure what was going on, the conversation just slipping in and out of her thoughts as Naruto had begun to make less and less sense as he had spoken. First they were talking about Gato, and then it moved on to pain or whatsoever, and before she knew it, Naruto was questioning Inari's manhood, or boyhood to be more precise. It was giving her a headache as she thought about it and decided to do what she always did when it was too annoying to think about. Forget about it and hope it goes away, however, unfortunately, it wasn't working too well.

Sasuke's thoughts were quite similar to what Sakura was going through, but unlike her, his natural state of mind wouldn't let irrational things just up and go. He needed to talk to Naruto a little later when he comes back. 'I'll probably just get him to join me in a spar and bring it up somewhere in between.' He thought, his foolproof plan already forming within his mind.

Unfortunately, his plans had just one fool that it was not proof of, Naruto.

**--Docks, sometime after dinner, 8:30--**

Kakashi, feeling the heavy tension of dinner wash away, decided to take a quick stroll around the house, wanting to get his mind cleared of everything that had happened so far. Finding his way to the docks nearby, he sat down alone, staring at the vast waters and the moon reflected in it. 

Taking a small, and rather knowing glance to the left, Kakashi continued on, staring out into the open.

Minutes flew by, lengthened by the calming and relaxing scene before him. Breaking the silence, however, Kakashi began to speak.

"He's not a bad kid. And he doesn't mean any harm." He said out loud, seeming to be talking to himself. "He just grew up roughly." He continued in a sad tone. "He's always trying to get someone or another to fit into simple roles for him. Not because he's bad, but he's having some identity issues himself." Having a little pause, he quietly continued. "He never really had parents, did he?" He asked the waters. "Even when he was born, he never really knew them, both of them dying immediately afterwards." Giving a small sigh, he stood up, and began walking his way to the house. "So don't be too rough on him, okay Inari?" Kakashi said suddenly.

As he walked away, a window slammed shut.

**--Forest area, 8:30--**

Wandering around the forests, Naruto was steaming in anger. But for the love of Kami, he couldn't understand why. When he heard what Inari was saying, it just pissed him off to no extent. Naruto hated the hopeless feeling in the boy's words and actions. Stopping at a small field, Naruto just leaned against a lone tree in the center. Naruto just sighed, letting the moments pass him by, tired from both the training and the stress. 

"You know. If you're going to be such a girl, you should just go on ahead and cry." A familiar voice rang through the forest.

Turning around slowly, Naruto just looked carefully as a certain raven haired teammate left the covers of the dark trees. "S-sasuke.." He whispered.

Sasuke stopped at the edge of the field, entering a familiar stance. "Come." The raven haired boy stated, dead serious. The kyuubi-child could only stare, before eventually dropping into his typical fighting stance. "Fine. Let's see if we're stronger or not." Naruto said, charging at Sasuke.

"It'll be the same as ever, you'll always lose." Sasuke taunted as he easily dodged Naruto's punch, retaliating with his own roundhouse kick.

Naruto grunted as he skidded across the ground, body flying like a rag doll. "_Kage bunshin no Jutsu_!" The blond shouted, accompanied with a dozen puffs of smoke and another dozen battle ready clones. "I'll show you the results of my training!" He shouted as his clones charged at Sasuke.

"And I'll show you the results of mine!" Sasuke shouted as he went through his special set of hand seals. "_Katon: Nenshou Ame no Jutsu_!" Sasuke roared as he launched dozens of fireballs into the air. When high enough in the air, the flames suddenly separated in dozens more as they literally rained down on the field. Although the flames were weaker, they were more than enough to get rid of the clones. "Dammit!" Naruto shouted as he patted out the flames on his jacket.

Naruto just sighed as he stared down Sasuke. "I guess my normal moves aren't enough. I guess I'll have to win using my latest technique." 

"Then I'll win before you can use it!" Said Sasuke as he unleashed yet another _Nenshou Ame_.

The dark sky turned a dark red shade as hundreds of flames rained down upon the area. As the fires settled down, Sasuke could only smirk as Naruto just stood there, his new jutsu unveiled. 

The blond was crouching low to the ground, his hand pressed to the earth, with a dark barrier encircling him. "_Kageheki_. The shadow wall." He said softly as he stood, the shadows lightly weaving around him.

'This is going to be interesting.' They both thought simultaneously, adrenaline pumping through their bodies. 

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Fire Release: Burning Rain Technique  
Name: Katon: Nenshou Ame no Jutsu  
Type: D-rank, Offensive/Defensive, Short-Mid Range (0-10m)  
Users: Sasuke Uchiha  
A technique edited from "Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique." Using the same principles, the user releases multiple balls of fire into the air high above the user. When high enough, each of the separate fires split into a dozen small fires and rain down upon the area. Sasuke is the only user of this technique because he was the one that created it. It's ranked lower than its parent jutsu because the smaller flames are weaker than the original potent ones.

Kageheki (Shadow Barrior)  
Name: Hekikage  
Type: D-rank, Defensive, Short Range (0-1m)  
Users: Naruto  
--To be revealed--

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Sorry for the lateness. Over a year! Can you believe this!? I apologize for all of this.. I'm just.. Not really good with inspiration. And even worse, I've had quite a lot of stressful things happen to me over the year. Oh! Some new news! I'm no longer single. Whoots.

Thanks for the guilt trip everyone. All those 'story alerts' and 'author alerts' and the occasional review really made me feel guilty. My apologies! I'll try getting the story flying from here. I bet you're all dying to know the fruits of Team seven's labor. Next chapter will be half flashbacks, half story. Await for me my loyal friends!

Oh! And I was finally able to get OpenOffice to work! Whoo!

Fay


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